In second-year forward Brandon Ingram, left, rookie point guard Lonzo Ball, center, and rookie forward Kyle Kuzma, the Lakers have some nice young pieces to build around, but will they be patient enough to do that or blow up half their roster to chase elite free agents? (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

Not that anyone has to tell you this will take a while since it already has.

You’ll know they’re getting closer when Lonzo Ball starts making 33 percent of his 3-point attempts. Of course, he’s at 25 percent and has to reach 30 percent first.

And not that Magic Johnson’s dream is impossible. With all contending teams expected to be capped out, LeBron James, the free agent Earvin has in mind, has no obvious place to go.

LeBron’s options are thought to be limited to: 1) return to Cleveland for a year; 2) Philadelphia, if LeBron and the 76ers decide they want to go that way; 3) the Lakers, if Magic can make them look good enough; and 4) Team X, which won’t surface as a possibility until season’s end.

In the meantime, the Lakers must win enough to look respectable while developing players … with minimal shooting (No. 29 in 3-pointers made, No. 30 in 3-point accuracy) that leaves them No. 3 in possessions but No. 28 in points per possession … and half the roster, including still-coming Julius Randle and Jordan Clarkson, earmarked to be discarded to create salary-cap space.

Randle, their toughest, most physical player, doesn’t shoot well enough for a pace-and-space offense but got over his early-season pout to become their energy guy off the bench, even if they didn’t pick up his option like Brandon Ingram and Larry Nance and everyone knows he’ll be the first to go. So hats off to Julius.

The Lakers’ rebuilding program dates to 2014 when they got Randle at No. 7, followed by three consecutive No. 2 picks – D’Angelo Russell, Ingram and Ball … leaving them far behind Minnesota, which got Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins and Philadelphia with Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons and Markelle Fultz.

No, the problem wasn’t Jim Buss, a figurehead, as dangerous internally as he proved to be by trying to unseat sister Jeanie before she could fire him. It wasn’t GM Mitch Kupchak, who was mostly, if not always, on the money with picks such as Randle, Ingram, Clarkson and Nance.

The first rule is: Get lucky. The Lakers did, drawing those three No. 2s … just not enough to have a transcendent player there for them, as Towns was for the T-Wolves at No. 1 in 2015, or Embiid was for the Sixers at No. 3 in 2014 after hurting his foot before the draft.

The second rule, and the only one you have control over, is: Make the most of opportunities. The Lakers had one huge miss in 2015 when they took Russell at No. 2, even if it was a mistake other teams were lined up to make.

The 76ers wanted Russell at No. 3 but took Duke’s Jahlil Okafor. That dropped Kristaps Porzingis – the prize, in retrospect – to the Knicks at No. 4.

The Unicorn almost dropped farther than that. Phil Jackson, then running the Knicks, hadn’t seen him a lot and wasn’t sure about him. Clarence Gaines, Phil’s right-hand man, made an impassioned plea to take him.

Despite Russell’s scoring ability, the Lakers dumped him two years later on the Nets for Brook Lopez who’s only here on an expiring contract. Assistant Coach Brian Shaw was recently overheard on a hot microphone telling NBA-TV’s Dennis Scott that D’Angelo messed around “all the time and didn’t put it (work) in.”

This isn’t a science. Before becoming the envy of all, the 76ers tanked brazenly for three seasons – until ownership finally decided this wasn’t any fun and fired GM Sam Hinkie – while “collecting assets,” a rationale that led them to take so many bigs, they’re now giving them away like Nerlens Noel and, as soon as they can find a taker, Okafor.

If there are phenoms like Simmons, developing young players, even great ones, usually means waiting for them. Jason Kidd, whom Ball is – crazily – compared to, shot 13 percent on 3-point attempts through Jan. 1 of his rookie season.

As for the Lakers rookies:

Ball – If he’s the one with the rare gift of being able to change the equation, we’ve been looking at a cautious Lonzo who rarely attacks the basket with his confidence at a low ebb.

The odds are that he’ll be at least an OK shooter, after making 2.4 3-pointers per game while shooting 41 percent from the arc in one season at UCLA.

To date, he’s young and overwhelmed. Not that Thanksgiving weekend of his first season is time to draw meaningful conclusions, much less compare him to all-time greats or write him off.

No, that time isn’t Christmas, either, or the All-Star break or even the end of his rookie season, although some pundit will announce his verdict for each and every one of the 136 days left in the regular season.

The way this works, Wednesday’s defeat in Sacramento wasn’t a total loss if Lonzo put up an 11-7-11 line and shot 4 for 8. Of such tiny victories are young players made.

Kidd, the Bucks coach, has called their comparison “a stretch,” but is among Lonzo’s biggest fans.

“He’s going to make his teammates better and make his team better,” Kidd said. “A triple-double is going to be a norm for him. … We’ve just got to give him time. We’re trying to put him in a microwave and speed him up. He’s going to make mistakes and he’s going to have bad nights, but he competes and he’s going to find a way to win.”

Kyle Kuzma – Talk about maxing out opportunity.

Last spring’s No. 27 pick would probably go in the top 10 if they redrafted today, making him essentially a bonus lottery pick.

It’s no mystery why he dropped with more accomplished players at his position – especially shooting, the best sign of who can play pace and space – such as No. 15 pick Justin Jackson, a 37 percent 3-point shooter who made 2.6 per game at North Carolina, and No. 18 T.J. Leaf, a 47 percent 3-point shooter at UCLA.

The surprise came during summer league when Kuzma, the late bloomer who never shot better than 32 percent from 3-point range (while making fewer than one per game) in three seasons at Utah, broke out.

He has never looked back, shooting 56 percent on two-pointers and 37 percent from the arc.

With Clarkson, Randle, Ingram, Nance, Josh Hart and Ivica Zubac, it’s a real rebuilding program if, in the test for all concerned, a real slow one.